Mood disorders

The term mood disorder refers to a range of conditions in which a disturbance of mood is the central feature. Most of us experience low moods as the natural consequences of loss or disappointment and a common response to success or achievement is an elevated mood. In a mood disorder the mood may be abnormally lowered as in depression or abnormally elevated as in mania. In psychiatry we need to distinguish between these natural “lows” and “highs” and pathological mood states. This can create confusion in both terminology and diagnosis.

A clip on YouTube entitled “Fighting Depression”, produced by National Institutes of Health in the US. It features a first person narrative describing one person’s experience with depression, and depicts people of various ages dealing with the different symptoms of the illness.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWY_NPJ39iQ

Another programme, produced by ABC entitled “Beating the Black Dog” (‘Black dog’ was what Churchill famously called his depression) with a clip on YouTube and a full film (45 mins) which requires rental to see.

“One in five of us suffers from depression. For some, the ‘Black Dog’ takes on terrifying dimensions. For those with bi-polar disorder, or manic depression, the fug can descend into psychosis, alcoholism or even split personality disorders. This documentary highlights some of the more alarming sides of depression and how it affects the sufferers and their families. ‘Black Dog…’ is a moving, empathetic dissection of the mental illness that afflicts so many of those around us.”

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez-IGauEfh8

Note that the use of the term ‘split-personality’ does not refer to a valid clinical entity.